Western Kentucky v. Louisiana-Lafayette Live Thread

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Join us tonight as we bring you live coverage as the Hilltoppers clash with the Ragin' Cajuns at 7 p.m. inside E.A. Diddle Arena. Western Kentucky is seeking their 20th win on the season and have a chance to clinch that all-important #2 seed for a double-bye in the Sun Belt Conference Tournament. Louisiana-Lafayette is spicier than the cayenne pepper that appears in their logo, winning seven of their last eight games.

What are your predictions for tonight's clash?

 

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Already inside Diddle Arena as the Hilltoppers and the Ragin' Cajuns are both on the court warming up, also looks like representatives from the Charlotte Bobcats and Oklahoma City Thunder will be here as well.

 

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Don't forget, Louisiana-Lafayette has their version of the mount-round-of-rebound in junior center J.J. Davenport, who measures in at 6-foot-6, 325 pounds. A pure truckload.

 

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For one, I'm anxious to see Ben Lawson play and curious to see how many minutes he'll roll with tonight.

 

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Still not a good sign to see Kevin Kaspar and Alex Rostov in street clothes, they are very key missing pieces right now. That's why Harper mentioned others, like Ben Lawson, will need to fill the void on the scoring front.

 

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All three seniors (Dickerson, Harris, Akamune) starting tonight alongside George Fant and Trency Jackson

 

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The Ragin' Cajuns counter with Elfrid Payton, Xavian Rimmer, Shawn Long, Bryant Mbamalu, and Elridge Moore as their starting five.

 

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Charlotte Bobcats GM Rich Ocho and Oklahoma City Thunder GM Sam Presti are in the house and sitting exactly one chair down from me, kind of cool to have NBA execs gracing Diddle Arena.

 

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Seniors have been honored and we're about 3 minutes from player intros and tipoff. Brandon Harris being honored tonight in the crowd with his own Fathead to distract the ULL free throw attempts

 

[Alex_Garden]

Davenport, aka "the Big Show", bodying WKU big men like an 8th grader going to town on 7 year olds.

 

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Originally posted by Alex_Garden:
Davenport, aka "the Big Show", bodying WKU big men like an 8th grader going to town on 7 year olds.

You mean, eating 7-year olds...he's basketball's version of The Fridge

 

[Alex_Garden]

If we can find that TJ-George-Third Player To Be Named sweet spot where they each get 15, we're gold. Or, you know, have Trency blow up for 28.

 

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Well, it's halftime, and after a three-pointer by CHD to end the first half, Western Kentucky leads 37-34. So far, the Tops have shot the ball well, at 52% (15-29) and have played solid defense, holding the Cajuns to just 35% shooting (12-34).

The difference in the game has been ULL's rebounding efforts, outrebounding the Hilltoppers 24 to 14 in the first half. WKU is getting killed on the offensive glass 14 to 5 which have led to 12 second chance points for the Cajuns and only 3 for the Hilltoppers.

 

[svw311]

Originally posted by Alex_Garden:
If we can find that TJ-George-Third Player To Be Named sweet spot where they each get 15, we're gold. Or, you know, have Trency blow up for 28.

I'm still waiting for Ben Lawson, but trust me, I'm not holding my breathe!

 

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With 15:13 remaining, WKU starts off the 2 of 10 from the field, Lou-La is shooting 4 of 7 so far this half. WKU 45, ULL 44

 

[Alex_Garden]

Tops doing somewhat of a better job this half on the defensive glass. Battling the length of Long and Davenport's portliness more efficiently. Nothing spectacular but a far cry from the drubbing they received in the first. Offensively, the fellas aren't taking advantage of ULL turnovers but points trickling in from Fant inside.

 

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7:52 remaining, ULL's Shawn Long now has four fouls but the Tops are dealing with some foul issues of their own - Dickerson, Akamune, Price each have three, Adeoye has four.

WKU leads 55-53

 

[svw311]

Originally posted by Alex_Garden:
Tops doing somewhat of a better job this half on the defensive glass. Battling the length of Long and Davenport's portliness more efficiently. Nothing spectacular but a far cry from the drubbing they received in the first. Offensively, the fellas aren't taking advantage of ULL turnovers but points trickling in from Fant inside.

ULL started out hot, but WKU's defense has really stepped up after the Cajuns had that 4 of 7 stretch to start the second half

 

[Alex_Garden]

3:56 remain, Tops lead 61-55. Good guys forcing plenty of turnovers underneath the basket. CHD and Teej providing the offense now. TJ's shoulder is acting up, but the junior continues to scrap on long rebounds and put himself on the line at the other end.

 

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ULL's Shawn Long fouls out after T.J. Price draws the offensive foul with 2:23 remaining and WKU leading 64-58

 

[svw311]

Originally posted by Alex_Garden:
3:56 remain, Tops lead 61-55. Good guys forcing plenty of turnovers underneath the basket. CHD and Teej providing the offense now. TJ's shoulder is acting up, but the junior continues to scrap on long rebounds and put himself on the line at the other end.

Getting Long out of the game will be nice for the final stretch run

 

[Alex_Garden]

George with a pair of clutch free throws to go up 66 62 with 1:10 to play. Quickly picks up his 4th foul on the other end.

 

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It was another nail-biter, but WKU preserves win #20 on the season and the coveted second seed in the SBC Tournament in New Orleans. A lil' stop in Atlanta for the season finale against Georgia State before tourney time begins, why not go down there and ruin their senior night.

WKU 75, ULL 72

 

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You can't complain about the free throw shooting this game, the Tops shot 73% (24-33), that included a 21-26 effort in the second half. In the final 1:19 of the game WKU went 9 of 10 from the charity stripe, CHD was a perfect 6 for 6, George Fant converted a couple of his own, and O'Karo Akamune went 1 of 2.

O'Karo Akamune returned to his hustle form, scoring 10 points and grabbing six rebounds, and giving the Hilltoppers that extra energy boost they needed to pull out a tough win.

Credit the defensive effort in the second half by the Hilltoppers, for the entire game for that matter. Sure, Elfrid Payton got his points, but they didn't let him beat them. Although, I'm sure most WKU fans were holding their breathe as Payton released that three-pointer at the buzzer. But, the defense was able to shut down the other half of the Cajuns duo of doom by targeting Shawn Long and putting him into early foul trouble that plagued him for the entire game.